PACT Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4519 To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Director of the National Institutes of Health to make awards to outstanding scientists, including physician-scientists, to support researchers focusing on pediatric research, including basic, clinical, translational, or pediatric pharma- cological research, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 26, 2019 Mr. ENGEL (for himself and Mrs. RODGERS of Washington) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Director of the National Institutes of Health to make awards to outstanding scientists, including physician-sci- entists, to support researchers focusing on pediatric re- search, including basic, clinical, translational, or pediatric pharmacological research, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Pediatricians Accel- 4 erate Childhood Therapies Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘PACT 5 Act of 2019’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:57 Oct 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4519.IH H4519 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4519 IH SEC. 2. TRANS-NIH AWARDS FOR EARLY-CAREER PEDI- 1 ATRIC RESEARCHERS. 2 Part G of title IV of the Public Health Service Act 3 (42 U.S.C. 288 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 4 the following new section: 5 ‘‘SEC. 489A. TRANS-NIH AWARDS FOR EARLY-CAREER PEDI- 6 ATRIC RESEARCHERS. 7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the NIH shall 8 make awards to outstanding scientists, including physi- 9 cian-scientists, to support researchers focusing on pedi- 10 atric research, including basic, clinical, translational, or 11 pediatric pharmacological research. 12 ‘‘(b) PRIORITY RESEARCH TOPIC AREAS.—In car- 13 rying out subsection (a), the Director of NIH, in consulta- 14 tion with the Director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Na- 15 tional Institute of Child Health and Human Development 16 and the directors of other national research institutes and 17 national centers that participate within the Trans-NIH 18 Pediatric Research Consortium, shall— 19 ‘‘(1) establish priority research topic areas, in- 20 formed by external stakeholders including research 21 institutions, research societies, patient organizations, 22 and industry; and 23 ‘‘(2) consider opportunities to align such pri- 24 ority pediatric research topic areas with current and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:57 Oct 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4519.IH H4519 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4519 IH future priorities of the National Institutes of Health, 1 including— 2 ‘‘(A) childhood cancer; 3 ‘‘(B) precision medicine, genetics, and 4 genomics; 5 ‘‘(C) rare diseases and disorders, such as 6 sickle cell disease, and other diseases and dis- 7 orders with significant unmet training needs; 8 ‘‘(D) fetal, placental, and neonatal develop- 9 ment; and 10 ‘‘(E) child and adolescent mental health. 11 ‘‘(c) PRIORITY AWARDS.—In making awards under 12 this section, the Director of NIH shall— 13 ‘‘(1) give priority to researchers, including phy- 14 sician-scientists, who have a demonstrated pro- 15 ficiency in conducting pediatric research, but have 16 not yet achieved research independence at the time 17 of their application; and 18 ‘‘(2) give special consideration to researchers 19 from populations that are historically underrep- 20 resented in pediatric medical research. 21 ‘‘(d) REQUIREMENTS.—The Director of NIH— 22 ‘‘(1) shall require recipients of awards under 23 this section to use such awards to support pediatric 24 research activities, including costs associated with 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:57 Oct 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4519.IH H4519 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4519 IH laboratory staff and other costs associated with the 1 conduct of research; and 2 ‘‘(2) may allow recipients of awards under this 3 section to use such awards for costs associated with 4 receiving guidance and training from senior re- 5 searchers as necessary to help such recipients reach 6 a state of research independence, including con- 7 ferences and other meeting participation. 8 ‘‘(e) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—Awards made 9 under this section shall be used to supplement, and not 10 supplant, other funding for research career development 11 awards.’’. 12 SEC. 3. TRANS-NIH PEDIATRIC CONSORTIUM. 13 Title IV of the Public Health Service is amended by 14 inserting after section 409D (42 U.S.C. 284h) the fol- 15 lowing new section: 16 ‘‘SEC. 409D–1. TRANS-NIH PEDIATRIC CONSORTIUM. 17 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director of NIH shall 18 establish and maintain a consortium to be known as the 19 Trans-NIH Pediatric Research Consortium (in this sec- 20 tions referred to as the ‘Consortium’) to coordinate pedi- 21 atric research programs across the National Institutes of 22 Health. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:57 Oct 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4519.IH H4519 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4519 IH ‘‘(b) MEMBERSHIP.——The members of the Consor- 1 tium shall consist of representatives of multiple national 2 research institutes and national centers. 3 ‘‘(c) CHAIR.—The Chair of the Consortium shall be 4 the Director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National In- 5 stitute of Child Health and Human Development (or the 6 Director’s designee). 7 ‘‘(d) DUTIES.—In coordinating pediatric research 8 programs across the National Institutes of Health, the 9 Consortium shall— 10 ‘‘(1) establish pediatric research priorities; 11 ‘‘(2) identify gaps and opportunities for re- 12 search collaborations involving multiple national re- 13 search institutes and national centers; and 14 ‘‘(3) identify opportunities to develop the next 15 generation of pediatric researchers. 16 ‘‘(e) CONSULTATION.—The Consortium shall consult 17 regularly with external experts in the field of pediatric re- 18 search, including children’s hospitals, children’s research 19 institutions, patient organizations, and other stake- 20 holders.’’. 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:57 Oct 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4519.IH H4519 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS